Beasts Within (9 page)

             
Camilla nodded.

             
“Then I’ll take care of you.”

             
It was sort of amazing how those few little words were enough to calm her nearly instantly. She did trust him, more than she had ever trusted any of the members of her pride, which wasn’t saying much, she knew, but it meant something to her. So when he started taking her clothes off, urging her to raise her arms over her head and spread her legs and arch her hips, she let him, helping where she could. She could see the tension in Karic’s body, where he was holding himself back from just letting himself have her, and she appreciated that, but she didn’t want to be coddled.

             
Camilla had no idea what she was doing, but she grinned at him and reached one hand down to touch him through his pants, rubbing the bulge she found there.

             
“Fuck,” he gasped out. “Camilla.”

             
“Let me have it,” she breathed. “All of it.”

             
And from there the gentleness was gone. He was still careful with her, made sure not hurt her, but he pounced. Growls spilling from his lips as he pinned her wrists overhead and took his time kissing his way down her body, leaving bites as he went. When he got one of her nipples in his mouth and bit down on it, Camilla arched and moaned loudly, and she found that she’d had enough of being passive in this.

             
It didn’t take much for her to free her hands, and she grinned at him when he looked surprised. Her instincts gave her some idea of what she was meant to be doing, and she reached up, fairly yanking Karic’s shirt over his head. She wanted to see him and touch him, and when his leanly muscled chest was revealed to her, she moaned again. Damn, but he was good looking.

             
With a quick movement of her own, she flipped their positions, ending up on top of him, straddling his waist.

             
“You learn fast,” he teased her breathlessly.

             
“Of course I do. I’m a cat.”

             
He grinned at that and reached up to tweak one nipple. “And what are you going to now, Miss Kitty?”

             
Camilla growled playfully and leaned down to leave a few bites of her own along his neck and chest, smoothing her hands down his lightly hairy chest and scraping her nails along his abs. His reactions only stoked her fire, and soon she was undoing the button and zipper on his pants, freeing his erection when she dragged his jeans and boxers down and off.

             
Her eyes were wide as she looked at it, and she licked her lips before taking it in her hand and stroking lightly.

             
“Fuck,” Karic gasped, and he flipped them again.

             
From there, it was just a matter of finding the right position. Camilla knew she was going to be tight and that it might hurt a bit, but she was so wet for him, so wanting, and when she felt the head of his length pressing into her, she arched and spread her legs wider for him. “Karic. Karic,
fuck.
”

             
“Hold on,” he murmured, and she wrapped her hand around his biceps, fingers digging into his skin. It hurt when he pushed all the way in, but the discomfort was only temporary, washed away by the rush of heat and pleasure that sped through her body. It felt good to have him inside of her, and when he drew back and thrust back in, she couldn’t help but arch her body to meet his, her legs going around his waist to drag him in deeper.

             
“You feel so fucking good,” Karic growled. “Fuck. I gotta…Camilla, I need…”

             
“Do it,” she urged. “Fuck, please do it.”

             
Apparently that was all the urging he needed. He set a fast, hard pace from there, a pace worthy of two shifters, two top predators locked together by their bodies. She had been concerned that she wouldn’t be able to take it since it was her first time, but her body adjusted easily, adding slickness where it was needed, and she met each thrust head on, gasping and crying out at each jarring stab of pleasure.

             
The bed was shaking, the headboard slamming into the wall each time Karic buried himself in her, and the sound of their flesh meeting, coupled with the raw, dirty scent of sex filled the air.

             
Camilla’s arms went around Karic’s back, and she could feel her nails tearing through his skin as she scraped them down his back, the sensations roaring through her as he brought her closer and closer to her release. She couldn’t form coherent words, barely could get a full breath. All she could do was hold on as the beast they were creating between them built and then crashed over her, making her scream out when she finally came.

             
Karic wasn’t far behind her, and he bit down on her neck again, smothering the snarl of pleasure that ripped its way out of him when he finished.

             
It took several long minutes for her to catch her breath and finally realize that Karic was heavy and she was sore.

             
But he took care of her. He cleaned them both up and got her tucked into the side of his bed before getting in himself and wrapping his arms around her. “You okay?” he whispered from where he was spooned against her back.

             
“Yeah,” she breathed back. “Yeah. That was…really good.”

             
She could feel his smile in the darkness. “We’ve got a whole two more days to do it again if you want.”

             
And oh, did she want.

Well, at least you got two days. Three, if you count the day before we started…
Karic sighed, but tried to keep it internal as he drove to the train station. Camilla was quiet in the car beside him, and he glanced at her every few seconds out of the corner of his eye, wondering what she was thinking. The two of them hadn’t really said much since they’d woken that morning, anticipation heavy in the air. Both of them had known, it seemed that it was going to be the day that their little vacation from everything had to end. It had been fun while it lasted. Two whole days spent in bed, learning each other’s bodies, leaving scratches and bruises behind. Things that would make them remember. He’d gone to shower that morning and come back to the sight of Camilla, still naked, hair in a messy halo around her head, looking up times for the train on his laptop.

             
Her eyes had been guilty when she looked up at him, but he’d just smiled and walked over to kiss the top of her head. “I know.” And what else could he say? They’d already talked about this. About how it couldn’t last right now. How she had to get away. He wanted her to be safe and to feel safe, so he wasn’t going to try to convince her to change her plans. She’d picked a place in Ohio. A little town he had never heard of that she thought would be the last place they’d look for her. It was a fifteen hour train ride away, and she said she felt good about the decision. Karic had smiled and avoided letting her touch his hands for the rest of the morning. She didn’t need to know how it made him feel.

             
Her train was at four, so they’d left the house at three. He could tell she was nervous, and he wanted her to have plenty of time to get situated.

             
“I made you some sandwiches,” he said after they’d been driving for a bit. “In your bag. Fifteen hours is a long time, and I didn’t want you to get hungry. There’s four in there so maybe you can trade one for dessert or something.”

             
She smiled at that. “Thank you. I…I wish…”

             
“I know. You don’t have to say it.” They were both probably thinking the same thing anyway, so he really didn’t see the point of hashing it out and making things awkward.

             
They made it to the station in fifteen minutes, and Karic killed the engine, not moving to get out just yet. “Camilla, I…” Fuck. What was he even supposed to say to her now? There was a chance that they would never see each other again after this, though the very thought of it made his stomach twist into knots. “I’m really glad I met you,” he finished. “I’m glad that we had even a little time together because I feel like…like it was something that I needed, you know? And not just because of what happened with us. I mean. I mean I’d never met another shifter with the same attitudes about life as I have. I was beginning to think that there weren’t any and I was just…some kind of weirdo for how I felt about things. But then you came along and…everything was better.”

             
When he looked over at her she had her eyes closed, and she was twisting her hands together in her lap. “I feel the same way, you know,” she said, voice barely above a whisper. “I didn’t think that there was anyone out there who could make me feel like I wasn’t some kind of freak or like I belonged. And then you saved me, and…and nothing ever felt the same again.” She opened her eyes and smiled at him, and he could tell that she was trying not to cry. “And now I hate Paul even more because I have to leave.”

             
“Hey,” Karic said, reaching out to cup her face. “No one said it had to be forever, right? You could come back one day. When things are safe.”

             
From the way Camilla shook her head at that, Karic could tell that she didn’t really believe that was something that was going to happen, and he didn’t know how to reassure her, since he didn’t know either. He planned to go down to the police station after this and have a word with someone about the pride and what could be going on over there, but he had no idea what would happen with that. If the pride had been literally getting away with murder for years, Karic didn’t know what
he
could do to change that. But he knew that he was sure as hell going to try to do something.”

             
Sitting in the car was getting them nowhere, so he opened his door and got out, watching Camilla do the same. No amount of stalling was going to delay this permanently.

             
The station wasn’t too busy, and it took no time at all for Camilla to get her train ticket and figure out where she was supposed to be. “No transfer,” she murmured as she looked down at her ticket. “That’s lucky.”

             
“I guess. Just means you have to be on a train for fifteen straight hours.”

             
“There’s enough room to walk around and stuff, though.” And even though he could tell she was sad, there was a gleam of excitement in her eyes. “I’ve never been on a train before, you know? I’ve never even been this close to one. I’ve never
been
anywhere other than here.” She looked up at him and smiled. “It’s an adventure.”

             
And right then and there he shook his head at himself for being so stupid, so selfish as to make this all about him and what he was losing. Camilla hadn’t ever seen more than this town and the river and her pride, and there he was trying to keep her chained to it for his own selfish reasons. Karic snorted a soft laugh at himself for that. “It’s going to be great,” he told her. “I hope you get to see a lot of stuff and just…I hope everything goes well.”

             
Camilla beamed at him. “Thanks. Can…can I call you sometimes? Once I get settled, I mean. I don’t want you to forget about me, and just hearing your voice is enough to make me smile most of the time, and…” she trailed off a shrugged.

             
“Of course you can, dummy,” Karic said, laughing a little. He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her and leaning his cheek on the top of her head. “Call me all the time. And I’ll call you. And if you get a computer and stuff, we can chat or email or whatever. I don’t want to lose you.”

             
He could feel her relieved sigh against him, and he didn’t even care that they were standing in the middle of a crowded train station with people rushing by on either side of them. He blocked out the harsh scents of other people and exhaust and smoke and focused on Camilla, clean, bright Camilla, and how she made him feel.

             
“I’m really going to miss you,” she said into his shirt, sniffing a little.

             
“I’m not going anywhere, you know?” he murmured. “I’ll be here and whenever you want to talk to me, I’ll be happy. But you deserve to see the world if you want to.”

             
She snorted. “I don’t think Fredericktown, Ohio counts as the world, but thank you for the sentiment.” The sharp trill of the train whistle had them pulling apart, and Camilla wiped her eyes. “I should go find a seat and get settled. I…” She smiled and leaned up, and Karic cupped her face for one last kiss, putting all of his feeling into it, hoping she could taste how much he had come to care about her in such a short time.

             
“Go,” he breathed when it was done, stepping back and releasing her.

             
“Well, well,” a voice broke in, and they both turned. Karic didn’t recognize the large man standing in front of them, but from the way Camilla’s face blanched, he could tell that she did. “Took you long enough, but we knew you’d be heading this way eventually, Cammy. Looks like you found yourself a little boyfriend in the process, too.”

             
“No,” Camilla whispered, taking a step back, and Karic could smell her fear even over the scents of everything else. “I’m not…
please,
Adam. I can’t go back there. You know what he’ll do to me.
Please.
Just pretend you never saw me.”

             
The man—Adam—laughed shortly. “And you know what he’ll do to us if we don’t bring you back.”

             
Karic had just enough time to register the use of the word ‘us’ before he heard someone coming up behind him and whirled to see another man standing there, hand in his pocket where there was clearly a gun or something hidden. “Let’s not make this difficult, okay?” he said, and Karic noted how worn out he sounded. “We just want the girl. No one needs to get hurt here today.”

             
Camilla looked like a cornered animal, her teeth bared and her hands tight around the strap of her bag. “No.
No.
I can’t go back there.”

             
“You can and you will if you don’t want anything to happen to dog boy here,” the man behind him said. “You know what Paul will have us do to him if he gets in the way.”

             
From the horrified look on her face, she did know. Karic watched as the fight drained out of her and resignation filled the space the fear had been. “Camilla,” he breathed, and she turned dull eyes to look at him.

             
“They’re right,” she said. “He’ll…Paul will kill you if you get in the way. He doesn’t care about anything but having me back. I…I have to go with them.”

             
“Camilla, no you don’t!” Karic said, reaching for her only to feel the man get close up behind him.

             
“I wouldn’t if I were you.”

             
“I have to, Karic,” Camilla said, and tears were welling in her eyes and then spilling down her cheeks. “I’m sorry. I never should have…I’m so
sorry
.”

             
Adam took her wrist in a firm grip, and all Karic could do was watch as the two men led her away.